My name is Feng Zeyu
I returned to my hometown Zhengzhou after finishing grad school
And now I’m teaching classical saxophone at a university
This is an old apartment of my patents
Its floor area is about 270 square meters
Zhengzhou offers few places where we can talk or party
Or just casually hang out
An idea came to my mind
I need an arena where I can hang out with my friends
And it should also be able to hold my alone time
So I separate the apartment into two sections
One for social connections, one for myself
The door opens to a 60-square-meter concert hall
The only furnishings are a piano
And two saxophones
I usually would play and practice here
My definition of a concert hall
Is a place wherever music is played
That is my stage
The concert hall is three steps up the floor level
Constituting a well-proportioned structure
When my friends and students come here
They can sit on the wooden stairs, listen or play music
The apartment is located in an old community
With rather dense population
So we put in quite a few installations for sound-proofing
But as a concert hall
We can’t have walls that fully absorb sound
So there are two modes
When we close it (acoustic panel), neighbors can be free of disturbing
In the public area there is a tea room
Where we usually talk about serious stuff
This is the gym room
The personal area is secluded
It belongs to me and myself
This 80-square-meter space
Is like a secret chamber
That can only be entered with my fingerprint
The basic functions are fulfilled by a living room
A bedroom
A small meditation room, and a Japanese-style courtyard
When I am home alone
I spend most of my time in my personal area
At first
I wanted to get intimate with nature
But there is heavy smog in Zhengzhou
So I can only open these French windows
On fine days
It’s beautiful when it snows
You can see from every angle
The snow blanket in the courtyard
Everything becomes quiet
When I enter into the public area
I will change to more formal clothes
Signifying my switch between two identities
Work is work and life is life
I really care about this
Always reminding myself of discipline
I practice the instruments three hours a day, every day at the same time
And then work out in the gym room
In my personal space
I chose to put in furniture offering a slight sense of constriction
It won’t be very comfortable to sit on
Self-contradiction always occupies my mind
I want to be in a crowd as much as I want to be with myself
I don’t care much about what others think of me
I live in the same community with my parents
It takes only a few minutes’ walk to get to their apartment
So I have my independent life in my own space
And I can take care of my parents
This is a way that makes my parents and I most comfortable
Neither too far nor too close
I want to live here by myself
Even if I get married someday
I won’t have my family live here
This is my secret garden